Freedom of the Sea Society
A society of vigilantes determined to rid the world of piracy. Foundation Henry Comstock was an advenerous man as a young man, born in the Big Easy 2230 he grew up watching the people of The Big Easy hang pirate after pirate as they were hauled in and arrested, for their crimes. His father Thomas Comstock personally led a group of vigalantes that would hunt down pirates, attacking their crews, wrecking their ships and burning or sometimes freeing whatever filth they carried. Yet like most kids who grow up with lawmen fathers Henry began to go against his father, he idolized the free, rich and adventerous pirates as they rode the waves of the Caribbean, fighting the monsters of the deep, digging up treasure and in general living the kind of life the young Henry wanted. You see despite his father's seemingly important role in the Big Easy Henry's family was rather poor, living in a small shack outside The Royaume the famil survived on whatever they could grow, hunt or trade and that wasn't much. When Henry was only six his family was attacked by vengeful pirates who killed his father, raped his mother and slit her throat leaving little Henry with the corpses of his family. He walked all the way to The Royaume where he stayed for a few weeks in the alleyways and on the streets, he eventually ended up staying with a kind clergy of the local churches. Henry took to his new home with great dislike for those who took him in, he disobeyed, misbehaved, broke shit just did anything to piss off his new friends. Yet the clergy didn't cast him out or even spank him, they understood he had lost his parents and realized this was his way of dealing with that loss. Henry soon changed his behavior as he grew older but the fourteen yaer old Henry was still a loner, he spent most of his days working at the church he attended, hunting and doing odd joobs for folks around town but never really interacting with those around him. henry was one day called to help repair the home of an elderly woman as he went home that night a thin, sickly, stray dog wandered out of an alleyway and began to follow Henry. Several attempts to get rid of the dog failed and soon Henry accepted that the dog would follow himall the way home. Upon his return back to the cathedral the dog promptly trotted in after him, not wanting to kick it out Henry fed the dog some scraps from his dinner and decided he anted to keep the dog, naming it Jackson. Henry soon grew old enough to leave the cathedral and at age twenty-two he said goodbye to the clergy that raised him and left The Royaume and The Big Easy as a whole. In the world he and Jackson found endless adventures from discovering old spanish gold in the swamps, to finding and fighting a sea monster with a group of Rafters, to hunting the most dangerous game the swamps had to offer. Henry eventually earned a ride to the Florida Keys and became acquainted with the Caribbean Exploration Commission and soon earned a job with the group, with little success in regards to rediscovering islands of the Caribbean but again having plenty of stories to tell around the campfires during the night. Yet it was while he was attempting to locate the Bahamas (being WAY off course) he discovered the USS Constitution sitting at its docks in Boston harbor. The Constitution was partially sunk and had a sharp list to the right but the ship intrigued Henry and he became determined to get her floating and sailing again. He made trip after trip to the surrounding area and making repairs to the ship and trying to get it back to working order. It was while he was going to look for scrap wood to make repairs to the hull that he met Angelique Reynolds, she was a beautiful girl from the Capital Wasteland, she was the ideal woman for any man and Henry quickly took a liking to her and for his efforts he got the living crap beaten out of him, Angelique was not about to let Henry get fresh with her. The two quickly became friends afterwards and both made the Constitution their project working on it day and night and eventually they got it floating again, they could hardly believe their luck and then they hit the a wall. What now? Henry suggested that they improve the Constitution and make the waters of the ocean piracy free. Angelique liked this idea and both again continued to work on the Constitution adding metal armor to the sides, adding two turrets on the sides, encased in metal they had welded onto it. The ship remained sprimarily wind powered but the two realized that the ship's speed would be greatly reduced due to their "additions" to the ship, so after getting some help from a local machinist they installed a propeller and engine into the ship giving it added speed, the final improvement was the addition of a metal ram on the front of the ship. As for armaments the the two managed to get the old cannons back into working order and with the abundance of old cars, scrap metal and other forms of metal that could be salvaged the ammunition was nearly endless. So as their ship took sail from Boston the two "celebrated" in fact they "celebrated" so much that Angelique would walk with a limp for the next couple of weeks and Henry had blood in his piss for the next week. A Pirate's Life Ain't For Me The two thought they were on top of the world accept they were only two people and a dog on a rather large ship, so when they passed the perpetual naval warzone that was New York harbor every pirate, raider, slaver and hooligan with a raft and an oar attacked them, they fought them back after an hour long battle with both being injured in the fighting, even Jackson had gotten a knife to the abdomen when he bit the knee cap off a raider. So as the three sialed along the coast, patching themselves up they realized they were going to need people to help with the ship so when they pulled into the ruins of Charleston they found a great deal of people willing to join their crew. Faced with the horrors of land they figured whatever was out there was better than what was on land. The crew was formed out of these volunteers and after getting some more veteran sailors from the Keys and drafting a few Rafters the crew was complete with the new recruits being drilled in how to use the old weapons day after day until they got it down and they became a well disciplined crew ready to take on piracy, their group was aptly called the Freedom of the Sea Movement as it defended every mans right to sail the seas. They went up and down the coast from the pirate ridden South Carolina coast all the way back to the big easy attacking and sinking whole fleets pirates as they attempted to comabt the massive juggernaut that attacked them. Yet for all its success its lasting impact was nil, when a crew of pirates were killed, their ships burned and their treasure taken there was always somebody willing to take thier place and thus the war dragged on and on for the cre of the USS Constitution but never did they falter, the rewards were too great and the fame was even better. So when the Federal Republic of Libeteria began to fight the pirates inhabiting Newark Bay and the surrounding New York Harbor the Constitution was soon on the seen offering its assistence and soon the Constitution was fighting alongside the FRL Maritime Patrol Force and played a major role at the battle of Ridger's Sound. The Constitution has officially accepted the offer of the FRL to serve as a Privateer for the FRL government and thus has spent most of its time in the NYC area, as of late they have tried on several occassions to force and enry into Newark Bay with little success and thus has busied itself hunting down pirate lords and mining the crap out of Newark bay. Henry and Angelique still run the Constitution and will accept new recruits as needed but as of right now the crew is more concentrated on fighting the war on piracy then its public image. Culture to be written. Membership and Organization The ranks onboard the Constitution are your standard navl ranks with the only constant being Henry as the Captain and Angelique as the First Mate. Membership aboard the USS Constitution is usually rather exclusive, restricted to the most veteran of sailors but from time to time land-lubbers will be picked up to fill gaps in the crew (mostly powder monkies). However once your aboard you belong to the ship and its crew, you mess up exect to be flogged in front of the whole crew. At any rate ife aboard the Constitiution is rough with most new comers coming down rather quickly with sea sickness or dysentry or some other disease, thus why most folk hesitate before coming aboard. Powder Monkey The lowest of the low aboard the Constitution, this position is occupied by either young men or the newest and greenest members of the crew. These men carry buckets of powder up from the magazine down below for use with the cannon crews,its a rather hazardous job. Gunner's Mate This position is usually held by two crew members as they're in charge of cleaning, loading and firing the cannons. These men are right at the brunt of the action and usually have the highest mortality rate with one out of every two being killed during the course of battle, despite the addition of metal armor. Gunner This man or woman is in charge of aiming the cannon and just in general commanding the cannon crew on how to do their job. thy're usually more veteraned then the Gunner's mates and have more expierence. they usually drill their crews till they are proficent at their job of killing the other bastards before they kill you. Carpenter and Electrician These two positions serve the purpose of repairing the ship when damaged, keeping the ships systems working fine and just making sure the ship is being held together by something more than prayers and some ancient rivets. They are usually the most skilled at their jobs and are proficient with a welder, as they are a hammer or solder gun. There is only two of each so they are considered valuable persons. Blacksmith This is arguably the most important of the post onboard the Constitution, there are two blacksmiths both of which maintain the ancient cannons, help with repairs and smelt, form and create the rifles, carbines and pistols most of the crew use in combat. Both are proficient in metal working and weapon making and thus the weapons they create are rather accurate, deadly and efficent to use. Thus they have had to deal with numerous attempts to kill them by the pirates that fight the Constitution, thus they have a special squad of marines that protect them. Master-At-Arms the commander for all the gun crews he is the most senior of the gunnery crews, with countless hours at the guns fighting the enemies of the ship. He is also the officer in charge of moral, meaning that if someone screws up or disobeys a command the Master-At-Arms will whip, beat or just in general maim that person until he doesn't want to disobey again. Marine This is a rather self explanitory position, whenever there is an enemy ship that has be disabled or stopped in some manner these men throw down planks of wood and charge across to take the ship, they're a tough bunch, amred with black powder pistols, carbines and rifles along with your average sabre. These men are also the only crew with actual uniforms with combat armor painted a Navy Blue. Many are former hunters or snipers and thus are very good shots making them deadly during a boarding. They also have the job of repeling attackers when the ship is in turn boarded. Helmsman This man has the job of steering the ship, trying to avoid massive rocks and linign up the ram so it can take out enemy ships with ease. Again this is a rather senior position that is only held by the luckiest of few. Yet the Helmsmam hardly ever gets to work at his jbob due to Henry being liking to steer the ship itself in combat. Notable Sailors John Mustrasson A young man saved from drowning after pirates sank his raft, he was saved and brought aboard the Constitution. Staying on with the crew to repay them for saving his life, and to make the seas somewhat safe to travel. Originally a Powder Monkey, he saw and repaired a potentially fatal leak in the hull during one intense battle, catching the eye of one of the carpenters. Since then he has been an assistant to him, learning the trade and how to make full repairs for the day that he takes over as a full carpenter. Armaments Due to the extreme age of the canons the crew for the most part uses only black powder for the cannons and thus for the ship's arma. The carbines, pistols and rifles you find aboard are all black powder based and thus create quite a bit of smoke during battle, one must think how backwards that is and its a wonder how they don't get trashed by everyone they fight well the fact is that the crew who wield these ancinet weapons are very skilled in their use. The markmen can hit a target 600 yards away and the sailors have had their fair practice with the guns. Yet the rifles and carbines aren't one shot muskets either. The revolvers are five shotted, the carbines all can be loaded with up to six shots at a time and thus are rather deadly in combat, the rifles are break action and most marines can reload it within twenty seconds thus the weapons seeming obsoleteness is negated due to this fact. All weapons are made aboardthe ship using materials that are formed by hand and formed by the ship's blacksmith. The Freedom Fleet The Freedom Fleet is basically a giant fan club for the FSS, this group made up of people inspired, saved by or just anyone who took what the Freedom of the Sea Society was doing and applied it to their own means. This group basically takes whatever craft that is seaworthy, arms it and sails it into battle with mixed results. They are successful but to a point, they may win battles against pirates on the high seas but they lack the organization and cooperation to seek out the pirate's bases and destroy them, they're instead more willing to do daring rescues of ships under attack or save your avergae damsle in distress, mostly anything that'll improve their reputation and boost their ego. The fleet is mostly made up of glory seekers and egomaniacs most of whom are so stubborn that they simply refuse to help their fellow captains get anything done that doesn't benefit them. In the end the few sailors who actually want to go after and destroy the pirates are few and far in between, so their may be noble but in the end its clouded by the egos of many of their captains. category: New York Category:Groups